Kaitlyn Whitehall

Kaitlyn Whitehall in clinical setting

Endorsed and Enrolled Nurse – Yarrabee (Cardiology and CCU)

The Sutherland Hospital  

“No day is ever the same.  When I wake up in the morning, I think: ‘what challenges am I going to face today?’, ‘How dirty are my scrubs going to be when I get home?’ You just never know what the day brings – that’s what excites me about my job.

We had a gentleman on the ward who had cerebral palsy and severe autism - he couldn’t talk, he could only communicate via grunting noises. When he came in, he was malnourished and he was so picky about what he wanted to eat.  All he wanted was ice cream and we didn’t have any ice-cream on the ward. I was happy to go and buy him an ice-cream. He inhaled it.  Although he was unable to communicate verbally, you could just tell through his eyes that he was happy and appreciative and that really sticks out to me.

Whenever I look after someone who can’t communicate verbally, I still know, that they know, what’s going on.  The things you see here, you just think, we’re so lucky to get up in the morning and come to work, because the people here would love to do that and they can’t.”